i'm gonna stand up to her! no you're not. i know. you know ronny folks who save hundreds of dollars switching to geico sure are happy. how happy are they jimmy? happier than a witch in a broom factory. get happy. get geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. hello, everyone. it is high noon here in the east, 9:00 a.m. out west. welcome to "weekends with alex witt." first five stories trending at this hour, the final rehearsals getting under way with just two days until the last presidential debate. a new photo that shows the progress made by a brave pakistani teenager. a warning after consumers catch fire after applying sunscreen. another big change coming at the gas pumps. and the top secret celebrity wedding in southern italy. we have details on all those stories throughout the hour. but first -- 17 days until the election.

and first to front page politics, this weekend both president obama and mitt romney are preparing for monday's third and final debate, but not before some contentious campaigning on friday. the president unleashed a new line of attack during a rally in virginia, pointing a new term for governor romney's shift of position on several key issues. >> he's changing up so much and backtrack inand sidestep in, we've got to -- we've got to -- we've got to name this condition that he's going through. i think -- i -- i think it's called rom indonesia. -- romnesia. >> here's what mitt romney said to the crowd in daytona beach, florida. >> they have no agenda for the future, no agenda for america, no agenda for the second term. it's a good thing they won't have a second term.

they have -- they've been reduced to petty attacks and silly word games. >> new today, the "salt lake tribune" has announced its endorsement of president obama. the paper cited a number of reasons, including the president's stimulus spending, auto industry bailout and foreign policy. other papers endorsing the president include "tampa bay times" denver post and philadelphia enquirer. mitt romney has picked up endorsements from the orlando sentinel, the tennessean and the orlando gazette journal. nbc's mike viqueira is joining me live in the white house. a good saturday to you, mike. is the president at camp david exclusively about debate prep? >> reporter: as far as we know camp david being that secluded, high security area north of here in maryland's mountains. he left yesterday. remember before the first two debates he went to swing states where he did hunker down in campaign debate camp mode, first in nevada he made a few side

trips from there. but for the most part studied up for that first debate. then the second debate in another swing state in williams burg, virginia. this time foreign policy is on the docket. it happens monday in boca raton, florida. the president is studying up for that. alex, you already played the bite there, "romnesia" the new sketchy deal and that was big bird. president obama really played that for effect yesterday in a campaign event not far from here again in fairfax, virginia. let's listen to a little bit more. >> say earlier in the year i'm going to give a tax cut to the top 1%. then in a debate you say, i don't know anything about giving tax cuts to rich folks. you need to -- yeah, you need to get a thermometer, take your temperature because you probably got "romnesia." >> alex, as we said this monday debate is going to be all about foreign policy, at least

ostensibly. either one of these candidates might try to current attention back to the economy. we obviously have one more jobs report coming out on the friday before the tuesday, november 6 of the election. but as far as foreign policy is concerned, i think it's safe to say we're going to hear mitt romney take another run at libya and the attack of benghazi. there have been a number of developments since their last clash on this issue which most people believe mitt romney came out on the short end. you can expect them to take another whack on that and hit the president on his china policy. ohio is the big state here one in play heavily industrialized state. that's why you've heard mitt romney talk about fair trade practices and promising to get tough on china. mitt romney behind in ohio by about six points according to our last poll. >> i appreciate that perspective. you're exactly right. mike viqueira, appreciate that. republican candidate mitt romney is getting ready for monday night's debate. he's in florida where he held an ally. he has no events planned today. he's studying up on foreign policy issues.

it is speculated that president obama holds an advantage. but foreign policy has attracted renewed attention in the aftermath of the attack on the u.s. consulate in benghazi. joining me now for more front page politics, political columnist for the "washington post" dana millbank and white house editor for politico rachel smolkin. dana, with this new gallup pole, 51% of americans think president obama won the last debate. 37% side with mitt romney. what are both camps saying ahead of the final debate, and what do you expect to see on monday? what's the attitude, what's the approach? >> well, alex, by all accounts this last debate is probably the least important because they've had two chances to make this impression and because it's about form policy which isn't what this campaign is primarily about. but that said, this is a very close election. so if one or the other has a very big moment or very bad moment, that could really change things. you don't need to change a whole lot of votes here, assuming

there are really some undecided outside there. >> what do you think about that at this point in the race, rachel, what dana is saying it's probably not going to change anyone's minds unless there's a moment. >> unless there's a big gap. you can't really win but you can lose. expect to hear bin laden coming out a lot from president obama's mouth and libya from mitt romney. we did see president obama have a very good moment on libya in the first debate. mitt romney trying to press a point about the administration's handling of this issue and essentially lost the round on a technical point. saying that the president had never used the word "terror" when in fact he had in a rose garden speech. so you can expect that romney will go back and refine this answer and press it once again in the next debate. i'm also looking forward to seeing whether president obama brings "romnesia" into this debate, favorite new term. we heard it yesterday. will he find a way to connect that to foreign policy or pivot

back to domestic policy and use it that way. >> good point there. let's look at the latest state unemployment numbers beginning with you, dane that they're out showing the jobless rate fell in 41 states, six of those were swing states. so how do you expect both campaigns to spin these numbers? >> gingerly and carefully, alex. because they will want to do this in the local markets where this news is good. but remember, there's still another unemployment report to come out right before the election. so if you start -- if you're obama and you start crowing -- you notice he's not really made a huge deal about the drop in unemployment. because if you crow about it and it bounces back the other way you've got a problem. you've got to be really careful knowing these numbers are very volatile. but sure, any unemployment numbers that are going down that's going to help the president at this point. >> and rachel, the next report that dana is talking about that's friday the second of november. election of course being four days later on tuesday. how much of an impact do you think that number will have? given the way the trajectory has

been and rather incremental dips, do you think it will make a big influence on how people vote tuesday? >> it's one more unknown at the very last minute in a razor-thin race. it's unlikely that the new number would change partisans on either side, that they change base voters. but the question is will they have a last-minute impact on that very small group of undecided voters who are still trying to figure out who they want to support as president. and if they want to bother to vote at all. so it could have an impact there. if the number stays below 8%, that does give president obama an edge in the final days. again he's still not going to break out the confetti over that number but allows him to make a case that we're moving in the right direction. if it goes back above 8%, that gives mitt romney a real point to press in the final days saying that last jobs report was a fluke, we're still moving in the wrong direction, we have not made enough progress as a nation. >> yes. dana, i mentioned earlier the

"salt lake tribune" is endorsing president obama. this is worthy of context because it is despite governor romney saving the salt lake city olympic games from a financial disaster. he also shares the common religious bond, mormonism, with many of the people there. so what do you make of this endorsement? is it surprising to you as it was to many of us here? >> well, i would like to think that newspaper endorsements are the most important thing in the presidential race or anything else working for a newspaper. but not so much. because individual newspapers will have their reasons. now, the fact that this paper has made the argument they've seen him etching and sketching and flipping and flopping, well, that is a legitimate point that may carry some weight. the problem is, in general newspaper endorsements carry almost no weight unless they're in local races that people don't already know about. but unfortunately people are not forming their opinions based on what we newspapers tell them. >> rachel, do you think that newspaper endorsements at all translates into votes or is it

just for bragging rights? >> no, i don't think they translate into votes. i'm with dana. i'd love to say yes, absolutely this is gospel, people take whatever papers say and act accordingly. but no, i don't think so. the interesting thing about the salt lake tribune endorsement of president obama was just how tough they were on mitt romney. this is not going to change the outcome in utah, but they really picked up on an obama campaign talking point, saying too many mitt romneys. it was a very toughen dorsment, very hard on mitt romney calling him a shape shifter and shameless, saying that he'd embrace the tea party and was now trying to plunge back into the middle. interestingly, conservatives have not pounded romney for this. they seem to just be happy that they're in a position where their guy could win the election. >> well, that's interesting, dana. i want you to explain something that you wrote about in one of your latest columns entitled "moderate mitt wins conservatives blessings." "key to the success of romney's

etch a sketch movement has been the cooperation of conservatives who have been unusually docile in the face of the candidate's heresies." what do you mean by that? >> this is exactly what conservatives were afraid of, he'd get in the general election and etch a sketch away all of the conservative positions he took. but they reached a level of desperation. remember a few weeks ago it really looked like the bottom was fouling out for romney and he was just finished. >> before the first debate. >> exactly. that level of desperation, first day is when it really changed and he began to make that pivot. i think because they were so desperate, because they were staring defeat in the face of saying do what you've got to do, mitt. we'll hope that you don't mean it and you'll come back to those positions on november 7th once you win the election. but do what you have to do. so they're letting him do something under the assumption that it's not a genuine change. >> okay, dana and rachel, thank you both so much. >> thank you. we're going turn now to your saturday forecast. we're going to give you a live look at the top of rockefeller center here in new york city.

it is a very pretty day. in many places, though, you can expect a change in the weather where your. let's go to nbc meteorologist dylan drier here with the forecast. hello, dylan. >> reporter: hi, alex. we are looking at changes especially in the great lakes region where today it's really chilly. only going to see temperatures in the 50s. we've got scattered showers out there, too. but as we go into tomorrow we're going to see a huge changes in temperatures. 57 expected high in chicago today dakotas in the 70s 15 degrees above average. that's going to spread slowly eastward. we have a dip in the jet stream affecting the great lakes. it will be cloudy, cool, gray scattered showers. where there's a dip there's a ridge too to the west. that's what's going to start moving eastward. you can see the difference between today's highs and tomorrow's highs, 65 degrees in chicago. but it does start to cool off dramatically across areas in the northern tier of the country like the dakotas as we go into sunday. for today we are actually going to see a few scattered showers but not a whole lot else going

on. down into texas it does look nice and warm through today with lots of sunshine as well. we will see just a few scattered showers and thunderstorms, too, especially across the eastern great lakes. >> dylan dreyer, nice to have you back from your honeymoon. so congratulations on that. >> thank you. still ahead the top city for political advertising plus the be best parodies of the campaign. and why latino voters could be key deciders in three battle ground states. we'll be back with more. ♪ [ male announcer ] start with nothing, build a ground-breaking car. good. now build a time machine. go here, find someone who can build a futuristic dash board display. bring future guy back. watch him build a tft display like nothing you've ever seen. get him to explain exactly what that is.

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my next guest was the first in a string of republican governors in massachusetts that led to mitt romney's tenure in the state house. in 2008 he endorsed president obama for the election, but this time around he's throwing his support behind his gop successor. joining me now is former massachusetts governor william well. as i told you in the commercial i'm very glad to have you here. >> thank you, alex. >> let's talk about what you did in 2008 and why you did that with your endorsement of president obama. this is of course after mitt romney had lost the primary. now you're going with mitt romney. explain that. >> i thought four years ago that the candidate obama was a very appealing presence. and on the economy there was no way to conclude that he would pursue a course i wouldn't agree with anymore than senator mccain whose strength was military and foreign policy. so i went with my gut. and president obama has proved to be an entertaining presence. and particularly now in the final stages of the campaign, you know, he's got great, great

gag rights. terrific at al smith. >> hang on. the word "entertaining" is that dripping with sarcasm? >> no, no. >> are there things, though, about his campaign promises, platforms that he took that he has not delivered for you? >> well, i'm coming around to the question you asked. the basis for my endorsing president obama last time was that i thought he'd do a better job on the economy. this time my guy won the nomination. governor romney won the nomination. but i supported him very heavily last time in the primaries as i did this time. i can't think of anybody better for the economy and job creation than mitt romney. i've known this guy for a long time. 30 years. in private sector and public. >> so in addition to his economic record, a lot of things in his tenure there leading the state of massachusetts have come under fire. his discussion about romney care, his stance on abortion. i'm curious who is the mitt romney that is running for president? and is he the same one that sat in the state house, a republican governoring a largely democratic

state? >> yeah, i think he's the same guy. he's a very tough-minded guy. he's got a lot of executive ability. he was able to attract people to work in state government who would not come work for me two terms earlier. doug foye who ran environment and economic development together, bob posen senior financial executive. so he's a real born chief executive. and that's a pretty handy qualification for president of the united states. >> it is. but is mitt romney the campaigner, then, different from mitt romney the elected official? >> i think he's fairly gentle on the campaign trail. he's certainly gentle and decent and private. he's one of the most decent guys that i've ever met. people are asking me these days, well, is mitt the moderate going to show up for work on day one if he's elected president. my answer is yes. as i say i know him very well. i've spent a lot of time with him. ridden around the back of a car with him in new hampshire. gone door-to-door in new hampshire with him. i've seen him a lot with just him and ann. and he's a fabulous guy. he's a guy who does not have any

unattractive edge. >> so then is mitt the moderate held to task by the far rights of his party on socialish zblus. >> i don't know. i'm not a movement conservative and i'm certainly not a conservative on social issues. i'm closer to being a liberal on social issues. the dreaded" l" word. but i kind of -- you can't have everything. and i think romney is the guy who will get the united states growing. i think his foreign policy, frankly, is quite attractive. if you read his book "no apology" he's thought the thing through. he wrote every word of that book himself. >> look what you did then in the state of massachusetts. you talk about where you were and that on social issues you're almost the dreaded "l" word. can what you did in a state be extrapolated on a national level? i mean, can a moderate republican on social issues win a national office like the presidency? >> oh, i think so. and mitt is substantially to my right on the social issues. so that question doesn't even arise. but certainly he can come in,

hit the ground running as i had the good fortune to be able to do and cut taxes and cut spending on day one. and that does translate to small businesses engaging in job creation. if you increase the investment tax credit for the purchase of equipment, they buy equipment. that has a multiplier effect on jobs. that's the sort of thing that mitt romney doesn't have to study. he's been main lining that his entire life. >> let me ask you specifically about the race for senate there in massachusetts. i know you've endorsed republican scott brown who is trailing in the polls to elizabeth warren. what do you think his chances are of winning at this point? >> scott is an immensely appealing candidate. he and i are very similar in our outlook. we both are people who will make deals across the aisle and work with people across the aisle to forge something that can be appetizing to everybody. i think that's what you need in washington. and that's scott brown's biggest selling point is that we need people in washington who will do that. i think the country instinctively understands that. so i think that's his chance.

i think he's got a real good chance. >> okay. former massachusetts governor william weld, thanks for joining us. office politics with the morning joe team. joe's going to tell me about the biggest thrill of his life and whether he thinks he has greater influence on tv than he did in congress. but first, number three on our first five web stories. a risk of fire is forcing banana boat to recall 23 sunscreen products. yep, i said fire because at least five people caught fire while wearing the ultramist sunscreen next to an open flame. now, the company says the valve on the can dispenses more than intended. customers should wait for the lotion to dry before lighting a grill or even smoking or just get rid of it all together. i'm breathing better. so now i can be in the scene. advair is clinically proven to help significantly improve lung function. unlike most copd medications, advair contains both an anti-inflammatory and a long-acting bronchodilator

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after sin city the new sunlight foundation's rankings of top political ad markets places orlando second, pittsburgh third. now to the most expensive political campaigns in congress. the senate showdown in massachusetts between democrat elizabeth warren and incumbent republican scott brown is first by a whole lot. combined fundraising nearly $53 million. spending at about 37 million. and by the way, warren's raised about 4 million more than brown. the senate bat until ohio is second with combined fundraising of $30.4 million and spending at about 21 million. the senate race in virginia, third most expensive with 32 million raised. almost 19 million spent. let's go now to the top parodies of the presidential campaign. idolator.com number three president obama singing "call me maybe." ♪ obama style obama style >> and coming in second, a

takeoff on gangnam style. it's "obama style." ♪ changing obama style >> and at the idol ators most favorite parody, mitt romney in gangnam style. your number ones here on "weekends with alex witt." [ music playing ] with the spark cash card from capital one,

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election. joining me right now, former ohio governor u.s. congressman ted strickland and chip saltsman, republican strategist and former campaign manager for mike huckabee's 2008 presidential bid. thanks for being here. >> good to be here. >> in the last few months we've certainly had the benghazi attack, signer attacks. throwing the transition into upheaval. really no clear administration policy on the crisis in syria. is foreign policy still the president obama win that it once was? >> well, i think it is. i think the president has provided steady international leadership. he's improved our reputation around the world. osama bin laden is dead. we've got -- and i think the president has shown strong, steady leadership. and i think the the american people are giving him credit for

that. >> okay. how about this, chip? do you think mitt romney should scale back his attacks on president obama's handling of benghazi after that exchange with candy crowley in last week's debate? >> i don't think so. i think there are still a lot of questions. we've had the president and vice president say they want to get to the bottom of what really happened, but there are still a lot of questions that still remain on this. that came out right after the attack and talked about the video was the cause of it. then later they call it an act of terror. congressman king chairman of the house intelligence committee that sent a letter saying let's get to the facts. unfortunately in the last 17 days of the election everything's politics. but i think the american people deserve to know what was the real reason that four americans are dead because of this. >> chip, again and again mitt romney's been accused of being vague. how is he going to differentiate his policies from president obama's on monday? >> well, i think he's got 90 minutes to do that. i think what he's going to do is kind of attack his foreign policy more as an endietment of his total leadership not only in

libya and benghazi, talk about how he's handled iran and the middle east, how he's handled russia and china even with their monetary currency. i think there's got to be a lot of issue that is we discuss. i think he's going to go at it point by point to talk about a difference in what leadership matters. i agree with the governor. yeah, osama bin laden is dead. but al qaeda is still very much alive. i think mitt romney is going to talk about that on monday. >> governor you're shaking your head a little bit. >> well, a guy that's been alive for a long long timal qaeda has alive for a long long time. they attacked the twin towers on 9/11. governor romney wants more troops in iraq. he thought it was unwise for us to leave. i think most americans wanted us to leave.

most americans want us to leave afghanistan. so we can have a foreign policy debate. we will next week. i look forward to it. but i think the president's in a very strong position because as i said, and i repeat myself, his leadership has been consistent and strong and steady. and that's what we need in this very dangerous world. >> governor, may i also ask you about the jobs report from the state of ohio yesterday. unemployment fell there to 7.0. that's well below the national average >> yes. >> but how does the obama campaign capitalize on that without appearing tone deaf to the rest of the country? because you well know that anything the obama campaign puts out or that the president says, even if it's in ohio it will be played all over the country. >> well, i think the economy is improving nation-wide. it's improving especially well here in ohio because the president rescued the american auto industry. one in eight ohio jobs is tied to this vital industry.

it would have gone bankrupt. it could have been liquidated, these great companies. they were saved. and as a result in toledo, in cleveland, and in youngstown and in at least 80 out of ohio's 88 counties there are jobs today because the auto industry is growing and healthy in terms of the progress that it's made. and i think the president can take credit for that. but i think the president also is and must be sensitive to every part of our country and all of the needs that exist in our country for job growth and economic development. and i think he's doing that very effectively. as a matter of fact, we are i think if we aren't seeing morning in america we're absolutely seeing sunrise in america. and i think that's really good. >> chip, all the recent ohio polls, though, give the president the lead. so if you're running mitt romney's campaign do you throw

money and resources at that state for the final two weeks now or do you focus your efforts elsewhere? i mean, can the campaign get away from the so goes ohio, so goes the election mentality? >> well, yeah, they can get away from it. but i still think they're very much in the game. i've seen some polls that show it in the margin of error. very close on election day. early voting is going extremely well for the republicans in ohio i've heard. governor romney can get there with ohio, but certainly it's a lot easier with holy in his column. we're doing well in florida, north carolina, virginia which certainly help. they could come down to believe it or not iowa and new hampshire at the end of the day when you look at the no tossup states. this will be a very close election. they have enough money and resources to compete all across the board in probably the seven swing states that matter. i think you'll see the romney campaign keep a lot of pressure in ohio. >> ted strickland, chip saltsman, thank you so much. we've been asking you all day could the last debate change or influence your votes? here are some of your tweets "when things are true they do

make a difference. backing with facts beats empty rhetoric anytime." alfred says "the third debate will be an affirmation of the second and will finally expose romney's disdain for the 47%." kathy writes "could monday's foreign policy debate change my vote? no, firmly decided here." watch the debates to root for their own candidate, not to make a decision. just saying. you can keep sending your messages to alex witt. new today, a photograph of the pakistani teenager who was shot by the taliban in pakistan after arguing girls deserve an education. the 15-year-old is out of a coma and is seen holding a teddy bear in her british hospital bed. the british hospital treating her says she's able to stand and write with some help. she is still fighting an infection and she will need reconstructive surgery, but she is making remarkable progress. now number three in our first five web stories, another big change at the gas pumps. prices could soon drop 50 cents

a gal. wow! the reason, inventories are rising and demand is waning the change is expected to happen sometime over the next few weeks. a current price for a gal of regular is $3.69 a gal there. a month ago it was $3.84. and then a year ago it was $3.47. two years ago, the people of bp made a commitment to the gulf. and every day since, we've worked hard to keep it. bp has paid over twenty-three billion dollars to help people and businesses who were affected, and to cover cleanup costs. today, the beaches and gulf are open for everyone to enjoy -- and many areas are reporting their best tourism seasons in years. we've shared what we've learned with governments and across the industry so we can all produce energy more safely. i want you to know, there's another commitment bp takes just as seriously: our commitment to america. bp supports nearly two-hundred-fifty thousand jobs

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the election for new york city mayor is still a year away but it could get interesting if some new yorkers have their way. according to a new marist college poll, 30% want former governor eliot spitzer to run. 25% want former new york congress member anthony weiner to run. 20% want actor alec baldwin to throw his hat in the race. that would be interesting.

in this week's office politics more of my conversation with the stars of our morning joe crew, joe scarborough and mika brzezinski. i talked to joe about the difference of being in congress and hosting his show. and mika tells me why she calls joe an sav arc nt. first i ask about governoring from the middle and if mitt romney would do that. >> if mitt romney governors from the middle he will get enough republicans to follow him because he's a republican president and get moderate to conservative democrats who have to win in their swing districts in the next two years. same thing with senators. let's say claire mccass tell gets re-elected in missouri. claire mccass tell, she has no choice if mitt romney is elected she has no choice but to go along with sensible republican legislation if it does make a lot of sense. sure he can govern from the center. the question is, whether he will. and i think judging by what he did in massachusetts and judging by what he did at the debate

where he bragged about meeting with democrats every monday morning when he was in massachusetts legislature, i think that's what you're going to have. romney's not an idealogue. i've said from the very beginning at times i wonder if he really believes in much of anything ideologically other than how you get people back to work. how you grow the economy. and it's very significant. but on social issues, i just don't think he cares. >> so what is he, then? can you put a name to it? >> i think he's pragmatic. i think he's a guy that is conservative when it comes to business. he's a lot like dwight eisenhower who was very conservative economically but on other issues more of a moderate. and i think he also is an opportunist that likes winning elections more than losing elections. >> may i ask you about being in congress versus having a tv show like this? what do you like better? because you have influence both ways. >> i get more influence here. i think most people that talk to me when i'm approached to run

for senate, i would say you're a fool. political advice, top political advisers say you'd be a fool. why do you want to go to the senate? you'd be what, a 99th ranking person in the minority? instead of being at the table with mika and doing a show that everybody in washington watches. so i think we've got more influence. it's a lot more fun. but i've got to tell you, the job i had in congress was really the greatest thrill of my life. i worked around the clock, and i loved every second of it. and i still miss it. but i mean, i'm pretty darn lucky. this is a great, great job. >> the hours suck. >> too bad! you don't sleep! >> everyone wakes up early. >> we've got kids so we go to sleep late trying to wrestle

them and getting them calmed down and ready for school the next day. and then we wake up at like 3:30 the next morning. it's no fun. >> you've known me for 15 years. what's the one thing i've complained about of all the jobs that i've been churned through in this business? >> you never have enough sleep. always exhausted. >> i always get stuck with the morning shift. always! >> yeah. >> but it is a good show. >> it's a great show. >> it's fun. >> it's a lot of fun. you're right, though, we are always tired. always exhausted. right now i'm sleeping. >> i am too. >> we've learned to actually talk in our sleep. that's how we do. >> at the same time. >> great job of it. >> and you've got pete townsend having signed a guitar over there. >> that's crazy. >> are you a really good guitar player? >> some people say i'm the greatest guitar player that's ever lived. >> i have not heard that. >> i'm not actually. you're right. i'm not actually a good guitar player. but i play guitar, piano. i'm a generalist. i do a little bit of everything. >> you write songs. >> i do it because i write songs. i've been writing songs since i

was 13. i love music. i love writing songs. love recording them. that's what i did growing up. like in high school when other people were at the beach i was a dork working the wires and recording songs. and i had my headphones in all summer. >> yeah. he's an savant. >> pasty white guy in the state of florida. i was locked in my room recording. but no, it's what i love. it's what i've always loved. so when pete townsend comes on the show, signs a guitar, that excites me a lot more than being around presidents or prime ministers. >> last question. how long can "morning joe" go on? >> a couple more days. >> insanity. >> just because of the exhaustion. >> it's over. >> can you guys stay awake for another five years? [ overlapping speakers ] >> major success. congratulations. look what you've done to help all of us at this network. thank you very much. but really no more than a couple days? >> five more years? >> another week. another week. maybe five more years. >> i'm calling up to the 51nd

right now and saying guess what we've got trouble. >> no trouble at all. they're sticking around. tomorrow at this time our morning joe team gives their take on who has the female vote advantage plus a really fun story about mika's family thanksgiving dinner. we'll share that tomorrow. number five on our first five web stories. justin timberlake and jessica biel are officially husband and wife. they tied the knot friday at a posh sea side resort in southern italy. they kept the details of the wedding closely guarded even withholding the details of the guests shortly before they were flown in by private jets. of course. we all do that, don't we? sure. [ male announcer ] behold the joy, bliss and total delight that can only come from having someone else

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♪ snapshots there of iowa and wisconsin. as the election inches closer, president obama's surrogates are

busy out on the campaign trail today. today l.a. mayor antonio villaraigosa is campaigning in iowa. tonight he'll deliver the keynote speech at the jefferson jackson dinner. meanwhile a nbc news "wall street journal" post in iowa shows president obama maintaining an 8 point advantage. joining us now the democratic mayor of los angeles and the chair of charlotte's democratic convention, antonio villaraigosa. welcome, mr. mayor. >> lakes, great to be with you again. >> so glad to have you here. you're my hometown marry even though i live in new york. let's talk about a busy day for you. you have an early vote block party this afternoon as well as the keynote address to the jefferson jackson day dinner tonight. what is your main message? >> well, the main message is that there's a big difference between president obama who wants to take the country

forward and mr. romney who wants to repeal the 20th century when you hear him speak on issues whether it's the voting rights act and all these voter suppression bills that they're doing, whether it's a women's right to choose and contraception, this is a party that wants to take america back. and i think the president wants to take us forward. that's what we're going to talk about. we're going talk about the importance of voting, the importance of early voting, of course, and how important iowa is to the nation. >> how about voters in general? what do you think they want to hear from the president in monday night's debate? >> well, the monday night's debate is going to talk a lot about foreign policy. i imagine they'll want a clarification on the issue of what happened in benghazi. but they're also going to want to hear from the president who has restored america's greatness

around the world. their willingness to work with other nations. he'll talk about, i hope, the fact that he promised to get us out of iraq and did. that he's winding down the war in afghanistan that supported the arab spring and the flowering of democracy. and that he's going to maintain america's strength around the world. and i think in the case of mr. romney we're going to want to hear a little more than just the critical -- criticisms that he's had of the president, particularly on the issue of benghazi where i think a lot of people feel the first time in the middle of a crisis like that a candidate put party before country. >> i want to talk about the latino vote with you. because the "new york times" there's an article that says campaigns see latino voters as the deciders in three key states. those being colorado, florida

and nevada. why do you think wing over latinos in these states is so critical? >> well, because all three of those states are going to -- are swing states. they're very important states to both candidates. and the latino vote will and can be the decider in those elections. i think i've been saying for some time people thought i was nuts they expected that we're going to get somewhere in the neighborhood of 70%, maybe upwards of that, the latino vote. we are i think not just because of mr. romney's policies calling for the south deportation of 11 million people, calling the arizona and alabama laws a model for the nation. but the rhetoric that they've used -- that he's used when he's taken those very extreme positions. i think in addition, latinos understand that president obama has provided deferred action for

the dreamers, these kids who know no other country but this one. that here supported comprehensive immigration reform. that he wants to work on a bipartisan basis to pass the dream act. they know as an example that 9 million of the 32 million people that will benefit from obama care are latinos. they know that when the president talks about investing in education, latinos are the fastest-growing student population in our public schools and increasingly in our universities as well. so they know that the policies of the president are very different from the policies of mr. romney. and i think they know they'll benefit from the president's economic plan disproportionately. and that's why i think they're voting in such great numbers for the president and why this election is so important because these three states are where it's going to happen. >> here's an interesting way to look at it as well. the pew hispanic center poll,

sir, also shows that catholic loornts favor the president with latino evangelicals divided. i'm curious how you interpret that. where is the line between latin and hispanic culture and religio religion? >> you know, i think latinos are fairly representative of the overall population when it comes that they separate their religious views from who they support. who the candidates they support in this case the president. i haven't -- i'll bet the number of evangelicals was too small to really have an accurate representation of where people are at. i mean, we know that most latinos are catholic. but i don't think that's going to matter that much. i think like most voters they're going to vote on the issues. and on the issues they're going to vote with president obama. >> i know you've got a lot offish dwrus get to today.

we thank you for your time so much. los angeles mayor antonio villaraigosa getting out there speaking tonight. thank you. >> thank you so much. what did we learn from the first two presidential debates and what to expect from the final confrontation. observations from veteran journalist carol simpson who knows a thing or two about presidential debates coming up in our next hour. ♪

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selected for people over 50. pro-health for life is a toothpaste that defends against tender, inflamed gums, sensitivity and weak enamel. conditions people over 50 experience. crest pro-health for life. so jill can keep living the good life. crest. life opens up when you do. good day to all of you. welcome to "weekends with alex witt." it is 1:00 here in the east, 10:00 a.m. out west. we are 17 days from the election. republican vice-president nominee paul ryan is campaigning in the battle ground state of ohio at this hour. in fact we're expecting him to address the crowd. that's a live shot right there i believe he's doing it. this isabelle month. it will be happening there. actually that's taped. that was earlier. he rallied some voters in pennsylvania. here's part of that. >> we have enormous challenges in this country. the president has continued to kick the can down the road. the president has continued to

be the most partisan president -- this is the third president i have served with. it's the most partisan one i've ever known. we are not going to duck these tough issues. we're going to run at our country's economic and physical problems before they get out of our control. >> vice president joe biden is in a swing state today with a campaign event in saint augustin, florida. at the same time president obama and mitt romney are taking some time off the campaign trail this weekend to prepare for their third and final debate on monday. meanwhile the president's weekly address today targets congressional republicans on the housing market. >> back in february i sent congress a plachb to give every responsible homeowner the chance to save about $3,000 a year on their mortgage. by refinancing at historically low rates. that's the equivalent of a $3,000 tax cut. it's a plan we know will work. the republicans in congress banded together and kept this plan from even coming to a vote. >> and new today, politico

reports president obama's campaign hauled in an election cycle best of $126 million in september. the romney camp said this week ild would raid $170 million in september in conjunction with the rnc. the campaign has until tonight to formally file its financial reports. let's get to the latest now. two reports from nbc's vike vic kara at the white house and nbc's peter alexander in florida. first president obama's agenda with mike. hello to you, mike. how's the president breaking down his cram session there at camp david? >> reporter: he is at camp david. the white house has kept this very close to the vest, the three days leading up to each of the three debates we've seen so far. he spent the previous two, alex, as you know in nevada a swing state before the first debate at debate camp there. then in williamsburg, virginia, virginia obviously another swing state before the second debate. this time he's chosen the solitude of camp david. believe me if you've ever been up there you know it's very tranquil up there. on top of a mountain not far

from here. enjoying nice weather in the washington area today. yesterday he was back in virginia, another rally in purple northern virginia. this is where the swing state -- the swing voters are located in the commonwealth. he's been out there several times. at george mason university in fairfax and he joined this new term which everybody's been talking about. let's take a listen. >> he's changing up so much and backtrack inand sidestep in. we got to name this condition that he's going through. i think -- i -- i -- i think it's called "romnesia.." >> reporter: okay there. you see the crowd eating it up. "romnesia" now the new sketchy deal which in turn was the new big bird, alex. monday's debate is all about foreign policy. the president in the polling so far gets the edge over mitt romney on the topic on the broad topic of foreign policy. but as peter i'm sure is going to tell you, mitt romney is

expected to go after him not only on libya and the attack in benghazi and the aftermath of that but also on china and trade policy as well. alex? >> all right. mike viqueira, thank you for teague it up for us for peter alexander standing by to step onto the screen. we'll get the latest on the governor's debate preparations. peter is in florida. lunchtime there in florida, peter. any breaks for the debate prep team? >> reporter: it's a good question, actually, if they had any lunch it was a quick one. i just passed senator rob portman. he plays the role of barack obama, the sparring partner for mitt romney. he was literally in the hotel ten minutes ago walk into the room where are going to be for the next couple of hours honing down their arguments for this foreign policy debate scheduled for monday night. alex one of the items that senior adviser tells me, one of the challenges for mitt romney in this debate will be to try to simplify the message into simple sound bite that can be digestible by an american audience but more significantly that can fit into the small timeline presented by a debate

format like this. the issue of libya will obviously be an element that's part of the conversation there, given among other things the release by house republicans of state department documents that had been provided to congress, including a cable by the ambassador chris stephens where he noted perhaps prophetically warning a month before the attack that the violence in that country was not random so much as it had been targeted. that's another item we'll likely hear from. we had asked them if they felt like they lost that opportunity in the last debate, the town hall debate where the moderator candy crowly had interrupted. here's another thing we heard from them focusing on the bigger issue of leadership. take a listen to mitt romney yesterday in daytona beach. >> they have no agenda for the future. no agenda for america. no agenda for the second term. it's a good thing they won't have a second term.

they have -- they've been reduced to petty attacks and silly word games. >> reporter: that of course is a response to "romnesia" that you heard the sound bite from mike viqueira just a matter of moments ago. the romney campaign is convinced that this foreign policy debate will be focused on larger issues like leadership and competence and a vision for the future. just within the last couple of days the romney campaign was out with that new ad where it sort of promotes romney as a bipartisan leader as they try to show him as someone that americans can embrace as their national leader. >> all right. nbc's peter alexander in florida. peter, thank you very much. and joininging me now for more front page politics, reporter for real clear politics erin mike and perry bacon junior. hello to the both of you. ladies first here. erin, it has been an election year of catch phrases. we've had the recent binder's bill of women.

47%. now we have "romnesia." what do you make of the president's any line of attack. do you think "romnesia" is going to stick around, that label? >> i don't. because as you heard, mitt romney has been very quick to jump on the president for making the election about small things. and that is a pretty good attack when mitt romney is also saying that president doesn't have a second term agenda, that he's talking about on the campaign trail. democrats have made the same complaint about president obama to the point that he might need to do a little bit more to lay out a second term agenda in the next couple of weeks as he closes in the campaign. >> how about you, perry? mitt romney was countering the president's comments by calling it a petty attack. and you heard him call the president's campaign a quote incredible shrinking campaign. do any of these kinds of attacks in general with either party, i mean, does it win points with voters? >> i think it can help. here's. why most of the people who are going to vote know who going to vote for. but you have the 10% of

undecideds. them they're not following what president obama's second term agenda is or how he's going to reform immigration. they're following the campaign through sound bites. the president says romney believes in winning and very little else. i think this is the kind of attack that might work to convince those undecided voters here's a reason. place into a stereo top of romney as being a flip-flopper obama is trying to play up. i think romney is smart, too, to say the president hasn't said what he's going to do in a second term. that's what voters are concerned about as well. as what romney will do next. >> speaking of next, perry, what does the president need to do on monday night in this debate? >> i think he has to be careful in explaining what exactly happened in libya, how and what they did. and the second thing is, he can't go back to his first debate style of being pretty passive. i expect he's going to be on the attack again and very sharp. and romney as well. romney has to avoid any kind of mini gap as he had in libya last week. >> erin, mitt romney hasn't really mentioned the libya

attacks in struggling with that topic in the second debate. how do you expect the governor to handle this issue in the final debate on monday? >> well, we have heard from republicans and from the romney campaign behind the scenes. and they are pushing out the timeline of the obama administration and the state department and how they have talked about the libya attack. i think mitt romney hasn't talked about it on the stump himself because he doesn't want to preview a sharper attack that he'll have on monday night. >> do you expect the president or the governor, either of you, to try to shift the debate from foreign policy to the economy? perry i'll let you have a crack at that zblirs i do. i think on issues like china particularly, if you look at the polls, the advantage, the issue that romney should be pushing is the economy. i think you're going to see issues like china particularly where he's going to pivot from here's the foreign policy challenge but here's how it affects jobs in america. i think romney is going to try to push the deck. economy is the issue he has the advantage on. whereas the president in most

polls it most popular with voters in foreign policy particularly because of the bin laden issue. >> do you agree? >> even though polls showed after the debate this past week romney had the upper hand on certain economic issues, economic indicators have been getting a lot better in the last two months. and the president is talking about that. the lowering unemployment rate that went to 7.8% as well as housing improvements. >> can i ask you since you're there in ohio, what's the state of things right now? what's your sense of the ground game in ohio with all the polls tightening? >> i do know that the obama campaign is ahead in terms of ground game although the republicans think they have made up some ground on early vote. i will tell you, alex, i just got in at 1:00 a.m. last night. so i haven't seen a whole lot yet. >> that's okay. you look good for 1:00 a.m. are you there for the duration? going to be hanging out in ohio the next couple of weeks? >> i am. >> we'll be coming back to you in ohio. very good. thank you very much, erin

mcpike, perry bacon jr. good to see you both. still ahead, is debate decor rum getting outside of hand. former debate moderator carol simpson joins us. [ male announcer ] when it comes to the financial obstacles military families face, we understand. at usaa, we know military life is different. we've been there. that's why every bit of financial advice we offer is geared specifically to current and former military members and their families. [ laughs ] dad! dad! [ applause ] ♪ [ male announcer ] life brings obstacles. usaa brings advice. call or visit us online. we're ready to help.

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there you see the vice-presidential republican candidate paul ryan. he is at the valley view campground in belmont, ohio. he of course is out on the stump while mr. romney is actually preparing for his debate.

he has been in pennsylvania and ohio today. we're going to monitor this from the control booth and let you know if there's anything to bring to you later in the show. meantime, wall street is hoping for a better day on monday after stocks logged their worst day since june yesterday. the dow jones plunged more than 200 points wiping out nearly all of the gains for the week. the nasdaq also closed lower. that was down about what, 67 or so. s & p also closing down about 24 points. let's go from there now to our three big money headlines. a jump in jobs, housing hopes, and christmas for the 1%. and joining me now, a retail and economic analyst. with a welcome let's talk about the new numbers which show unemployment fell in 41 states, six of which were swing states. which ones are we talking about here? which swing states? >> right, alex. a bureau of labor statistics came out with reports saying unemployment fell in all but two of the swing states. let's go through some of these numbers. new hampshire and virginia came in at 5.7% and 5.9%. those were unchanged.

but ohio, wisconsin, colorado and florida were all down. and ohio came down -- was at 7%. it was down .2%. unemployment also fell in wisconsin, colorado and florida, as i said. and then also nevada, michigan and north carolina all came down as well. nevada was at 11.8%. north carolina was at 9.6%. and michigan at 9.3%. and i also wanted to add, alex, that economists were telling me that i was talking to that nevada was actually the worst economy for all the swing states mostly because of the foreclosures. >> absolutely. and in fact, speaking of housing sales of previously-owned homes decreased in september from the highest left in two years. is a decrease in sales, though, necessarily bad? >> no, alex, not at all. i'm going to go through some of those numbers as well. speaking of foreclosures, those existing home sales did come down. but they came down from the highest point in the last two years. purchases fell about 1.7% to 4.7

million. but that was actually up 11% from last year. >> okay. and then housing starts? some good news there? >> right. housing starts have been the best since four years. they were up about 11%. and really that has to do -- economists are saying that's really going to kind of jolt the sector, the housing sector there. people are going to feel a little bit more optimistic about that. >> can i ask you holiday spending which is expected to grow among the 1% out there, by how much and what exactly are they looking to buy? >> those 1 percenters are definitely out there. i'm going to go ahead and send my christmas list to one of them. about 37% out there are going to be spending, they're going to boost spending to about $600 million just from that. that's about $3.4 billion in total. now, national retail federation is saying that the average american is probably going to spend about $421 just to compare that. >> okay. well, thank you for that. we appreciate it.

well, actually forget the 1%. there's a new book out which says that it's the 0.1% that we should really be worried about. plutocrats, the rise in the new global super rich and the fall of everyone else looks at how the local economy has put the money and power in the hands of an increasingly smaller group of international billionaires leaving the rest of us in the lurch. joining me now is the author, christa friedland, digital editor for for royalreuters. this society don't travel in anything but private jets right now. who are these people and why are they causing our downfall? >> i wouldn't say they are causing our downfall. but i think what we're seeing is a two-speed economy. at the very, very top the economy is really terrific right now. we heard that just now with your 1% holiday spending story. and this group are the people

who are able to kind of surf the waves of globalization, the technology revolution. they've figured it out and they're benefitting from this tumultuous change. the problem is, they are very, very distant from what is happening to the rest of us. and we're see iing -- 10 or 15 years ago. so we're really seeing the deep couple ling not just of the u.s. economy but the economies of the u.s. industrialized world and seeing it play out in our politics. the people at the very top are just living in a completely different world. >> but what is it, chris tax that has caused in our society or in our economy to create this divide, this chasm that is growing? >> i think some of it is economic forces. i think some of it is globalization. when you outsource the work at your factory if you happen to own the factory that's actually kind of terrific.

you're making more profits than you ever were before. if you're one of the workers who lost their jobs, less good. politics is contributing to it, though. so even if you've had these economic force that are widening the divide, instead of having the politics try to soften that, trying to mitigate that, it's actually particularly in the united states exacerbating it. so we see taxes at the very top fall even as the incomes rise. >> yeah. and you've written about how wall street has surged back to the pre-crisis levels, main street not at all. main street is still struggling. we heard hetha, we were talking about this the holiday sales, you have all of these people at the top end who are going to have outrageously great christmases or holiday season of sales. but the question is, are the conspiracy theorists, are they right? is this fixed in some way? >> no. and i'm not a conspiracy theorist. but i do think that what happens is as you have so much economic disparity and so much more economic power at the top,

inevitably that seeps into the politics. and inevitably, i think this idea of someone in a back room smoking a cigar and a top hat and saying how are we going to screw the proliteriat. that's not happening. but inevitably everyone pursues their own sechz interest. the more economic power you have the more political power you have to pursue your self-interest which doesn't necessarily accord with the interests of everybody else. >> i want to ask you a couple of years ago bill gates warned they launched that campaign to try to get people who had tremendous sums of money, billionaires and high-end millionaires to contribute and give back to charities. how is that going? how many have signed on to do that? >> i think the giving pledge is going really well. and actually there is a lot of philanthropic activity at the very top. the only thing i would say, this is one of the things i discovered in reporting for my book which was a real surprise to me. when i talk to some of of most philanthropic billionaires, if i change the conversation to taxes they would say, you know, i don't think it makes a lot of

sense to increase taxes for people at the top because we're giving away so much of our money already. and one wealthy philanthropist who i spoke to referred to something called the self-tax. he said, you know, you don't realize how much rich people self-tax. his argument was, it's better for rich people to spend their money on their charities rather than to pay higher taxes to the state. i have a little bit of a problem with that, because i think someone has to pay for the roads and someone has to pay for the military, someone has to pay for the public schools. so i don't think that philanthropy is an alternative to the public good. >> that is an interesting argument you make there. plutocrats looks like a very interesting book. i'm going to read. this i can't wait. >> tell me what you think. >> i'm going to. i love the cover. i told you that already. chris tax thank you. france is trying to cut its deficit by raising taxes on the rich. the french lower house of parliament has approved a 75% on earnings above $1.3 million or

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what's the word? clean? employable. [ female announcer ] one cap of tide gives you more cleaning power than 6 caps of the bargain brand. [ mom ] that's my tide, what's yours? mitt romney saved the salt lake city olympics games from becoming a financial disaster. he shares a common religious bond in the mormon church with so many there. so you might expect the republican nominee to garner an endorsement from the city's major newspaper. think again. the salt lake tribune is endorsing president obama, citing a number of reasons including the president's stimulus spending, auto industry bailout and foreign policy. about mr. romney, the tribune says, he morphed into a friend of the far right, then quickly shifted back to the center. the trib says there are too many

myths whose domestic agenda lacks retails and is worthy of mistrust. the battle for the white house may be close but president obama has a big advantage in the -- the daily beast says the president has more than twice as many local headquarters as the romney campaign. in ohio the president has triple the number of field offices. meanwhile, the bills have come due from the summer's political conventions. and the "washington post" says the dnc has ended in more than $8 million in debt. republicans finished in the black. things may be looking up at the gas pumps after an amazing scientific discovery. researchers in the united kingdom are making gasoline by extracting carbon dioxide from the air and mixing it with water vapors. voila a cleaner gasoline. problem is it's still too expensive to make. all that ballyhoo and publicity for arnold schwarzenegger's new memoir. where is it on the best seller's list? nowhere. his auto biography a total bomb. he's managed to sell only about

27,000 copies in its first three weeks. ooh, "paranormal activity 4" is the new leader at box office. latest check on the yearly total show box office earnings are up more than 5% from a year ago at this time. finally lance armstrong's fall continues. after being stripped of all his titles he quit his livestrong charity this week, and then his sponsors lowered the boom. on wednesday armstrong lost eight endorsement deals. one agent says that adds up to about a $30 million loss. those are your ups and downs here on "weekends with alex witt." [ female announcer ] over the years, your mouth has giggled, snuggled, bubbled ...and yellowed. because if you're not whitening, you're yellowing. crest whitestrips remove over ten years of stains and whiten 25 times better than a leading whitening toothpaste. crest 3d white whitestrips.

welcome back to "weekends with alex witt." it's 31 past the hour. it's time now for a look at some other stories in today's fast five headlines. the chairman of the house committee on homeland security has sent a letter to the president demanding the release of intelligence reports on the

attack in libya. congressman peter king wants to know what information the white house used to first call the incident a spontaneous attack. relating to that film and then changed it to a terrorist attack. yesterday house republicans released unclassified documents and photos on the matter. republicans say they show the administration repeatedly rejected requests for security at thats consulate despite the escalating violence there. in beirut today, protesters set up road blocks of burning tires and overturned trash dumpsters in outrage over yesterday's car bombing. that attack killed a top lebanese security officer and seven other people. in this country, banana boat sunscreen is recalling its spray on ult that mist because of a fire risk. it occurs when a user gets too close to an open flame. the company says at least five people have been burned in such instances. so be careful, everyone with that. a power failure stalled the ride of the texas state fair last night, leaving two dozen riders stranded, 165 feet in the air for about two hours. though no one was hurt. and the texas state fair's

big icon, big tex, has gone up in flames. the mechanized host caught fire yesterday and is just a charred metal skeleton today. an electrical malfunction is believed to be the cause. the candidates are now preparing for that third and final debate on monday. can we expect the same confrontational showdown that we saw in the second presidential debate? joining us again from boston is carol simpson, long time network news anchor and former presidential debate moderator. so glad to have you back, carol. thanks for joining us. >> it's good to be back, alex. i thought about how long ago we talked. and god, so much has happened. >> you have been so busy, too. my goodness, you have been everywhere. you can't get off the air waves. everyone wants your insight which is what we're going to ask you about here. after the last three political debates, to include the veep debate, the moderator's performance has been much discussed, maybe more than ever. first there's the battle for the extra time. let's take a look at that.

>> i got to move you along. the next question is for you. >> he actually got the first question so i get the last answer on that one. >> actually in the followup it doesn't quite work like that. but i'm going to give you a chance here, i promise you i'm going to. the next question is for you. so if you want to continue on. but i don't want to leave all these guys sitting here. >> we're going to move you along to taxes. >> i'm used to being interrupted. >> i'm going to move you both along to taxes. >> so it seems like both the president and mr. romney battled that moderator, candy crowly, for extra time and over the format a bit. what is your opinion on how she managed that debate? that was a challenge. >> i was just -- i was like, oh, poor candy. >> yeah. >> my god, what is she having to go through. and i remember her hands constantly doing this. and i think she did a magnificent job, considering the circumstances under which she had to work.

i have never seen two men so upset and so in dislike of each other. i thought i was back in the roman -- ancient roman coliseum with two glade ators, yes, they're circling each other. i thought someone was going to get hit. but you know what, candy raised two sons. and i noticed as she got on and on and they were more and more difficult to control that her mother skills came forward. and i remember her telling mr. romney, "sit down." and he did. so i think it came in handy that she was a mother and was dealing with two naughty boys. >> oh, that's funny. but you know, speaking of the mother thing and just being a woman, how does crowley's gender play a role in how she was treated? do you think a male moderator would have been talked over the same way? is there a matter of respect or a lack thereof here?

>> well, when i think back to the first debate and jim larehr he didn't get to say anything. he completely lost control and just kind of threw up his hands. and i think candy was determined to show that she could handle this debate and she was going to get the questions answered. and she was going to ask her questions. so i think she did a good job. and i don't think it was a matter of gender. i think she was stronger than jim lehrer in handling the candidates. >> well, in fact they may have come out further swinging based on the other performances from the first one. but i want to read to you an op ed piece at least part of it that i found interesting in the "new york times" in reference to tuesday's debate. ling which is ticks professor writes "it's well documented that women tend to be interrupted more than men and that women who interrupt others are seen more negatively than men who do." what are your thoughts on that? >> i think some women are

interrupted by men. i wasn't, because i was the kind of person that would go like governor romney did. "i'm still talking. wait just a moment. i haven't finished." so some women feel intimidated perhaps by a man telling them -- interrupting them and trying to shut them up. but i don't think that's true of all women. and men being interrupted, are we reluctant? i'm not. again, i think it's certain women and certain men. but you know, bob schieffer. >> i'm interrupting you. i apologize. but bob schieffer, carol, do you expect any different kind of behavior? anything more deferential or retrained because he's the one that's moderating? >> i think so because bob does "face the nation" all the time. so he's dealing with people on

his show every sunday that he has to pull things out of and push back on certain things. and so i think he'll be much more in control. >> how about the decorum of candidates in debates overall? it appears to be worsening. you have recent debates from california and ohio which offer two examples of that. we're going to play this and you're going to take a listen here with us. >> okay. [ overlapping speakers ] [ yearing ] senator you are a liar. you're falsely attacking me and i won't stand for it. you might want to try to push people around in washington but you're not going to push me around. >> josh man dell as we know has trouble telling the truth. >> so what is it? are debates becoming less civil or is it just a perception? what's that all about? >> you know, i think it all started during those town hall meetings that were held on the health care reform act.

remember at some of those town hall meetings people really got -- got out of control. >> absolutely. yeah. >> and i think it also goes to the fact that there's a lack of civility in the country just generally. i don't think people are as polite or as kind to each other as they have been. and after we saw the two presidential candidates carrying on like they did, i don't know what kind of impact that's going to have on other people. seems like you can say anything you want to somebody. >> so what about the flack that candy crowly caught from the right when she fact checked the president in the attack from libya. let's take another look at that and i have another question, too. >> want to make sure we get that for the record. because it took the president 14 days before he called the attack in benghazi an act of terror. >> get the transcript. >> he did in fact, sir. so let me call it an act of

terror. [ overlapping speakers ] >> okay. so putting aside the issue of the accuracy of her fact check, did the moderator, candy crowly or anybody else, overstep a role? >> i don't think so. i think if there's an argument between the two candidates and she has information that will shed light on what she knows to be the truth about the situation, i think that's our obligation as journalists is to tell the public the truth. we're truth tellers. that's what we're supposed to be doing. so i have said in interviews in the past that no matter how well you do your job, somebody's going to criticize it. because you're a member of the press. you're a journalist. and nobody likes us. so i think this is much ado about nothing. and the fact that she had to come in for that kind of criticism is terrible. i experienced the same thing when people accused me of making

president bush look bad and throwing the debate in favor of bill clinton. which i did not. but people said it. and that got out there. >> right. well, for the record i like you, carole simpson. and i'm awfully glad you're coming on our show with more frequency. thank you so much. >> thank you. have a good saturday. >> and you. and we remind you that our coverage of monday night's third and final debate begins at 8:00 eastern right here on msnbc. now it's time for a preview of what's coming up next with msnbc live. we have richard louis there. >> love her voice. we're seeing more focus on the particular blue state that could very well go red. we dig into this new strategy in pennsylvania. we also ask why north carolina may lose some attention. plus is it time to revamp presidential debates? and we've got the debate topic that hasn't come up, climate change. bill nye the science guy talks about what's hype and what's right. we go live to the campaign

trail, too. busy day. >> it is. we'll be tuning in thanks so much, richard. cominging up next key senate battles with the balance of power at stake. ahead on "weekends with alex witt." [ rosa ] i'm rosa and i quit smoking with chantix. when the doctor told me that i could smoke for the first week... i'm like...yeah, ok... little did i know that one week later i wasn't smoking. [ male announcer ] along with support, chantix is proven to help people quit smoking. it reduces the urge to smoke. some people had changes in behavior, thinking or mood, hostility, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actions while taking or after stopping chantix. if you notice any of these stop taking chantix and call your doctor right away. tell your doctor about any history of depression or other mental health problems, which could get worse while taking chantix. don't take chantix if you've had a serious allergic or skin reaction to it. if you develop these stop taking chantix and see your doctor right away as some can be life-threatening. if you have a history of heart or blood vessel problems, tell your doctor if you have new or worse symptoms. get medical help right away if you have symptoms of a heart attack. use caution when driving or operating machinery.

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it's time now for the big three in today's topics. t minus two days, senate in the balance and best week worst week. let's bring in my big three panel. politics writer, republican strategist and msnbc contributor and democratic strategist morris reed who found his way back from gay paris. we were so jealous of you last week. but anyway, let's get to you first with a welcome. our first topic is the first debate or final debate on monday. what are both campaigns saying about it? what do you expect to see? >> well, obviously this debate focuses on foreign policy. that's notable because mitt romney doesn't really have a long record or close to a non-existent record in foreign policy at all.

he was governor for four years, didn't really deal with the issue a lot then. then obviously his trip to london didn't go so well this summer. so the question is, does that mean going into monday that in the expectations game or expectations low enough that he can just do already and receive a passing grade. that's what i'm going to be watching for monday night. >> so gauging that. susan, mitt romney did have some missteps in the last go around in relates to the libya situation. how do you think he's going to handle libya on monday? can he make up for the trouble he had with it in the last debate? is it one of the things just leave it be. >> i think he will handle and make up the ground. i think more importantly is the body language we're going to see when it comes to libya as well as a lot of other things. your previous guest was talking about civility. i think the last debate turned off a lot of people, especially women. now we're going to have to see how they confront each other and see if they go over that line. >> you know, reed, the president was certainly criticized for his performance in the first debate. he made fun of himself as well. a new gallup poll says that 51%

of americans think president obama won the second debate. so what kind of balance does the president need to strike in this final one? and how do you expect him to handle the libya issue? >> well, i think that this is an area where the president always has an upper hand on the challenger because you really don't have experience when you're not the president or come from the senate. i believe that the president needs to show a lot of strength of leadership, he needs to really focus and drill down. i think that this is an opportunity for him to show real presidential strength. you saw in the last debate where he really talked about foreign policy things he's committed to he came off very strong. i think this is an opportunity for him to drill down on the strength, his leadership capability and the fact that he has some successes. he doesn't want to start spiking the football. democrats shouldn't spike the football after the last debate. there's a lot of campaign left. he needs to be very focused and deliberate on what he's done successfully. >> shirl let's move on to the next topic with you as we talk about senate in the balance. there are some fierce battles in some key battle ground states.

let's take a listen to debate this week in ohio between senator brown and his gop challenger. >> she's way more interested in his next job than he is doing his job for the people of ohio. and josh man dell as an elected official has fallen far short on the honesty integrity quotient. >> i take personal offense to that. and you're dead wrong. it's why the cleveland plain dealer called your attacks on me false, deceiving, dishonest, incorrect, quote unquote lie of the year. senator, you are a liar. >> okay. so shirl you're right there in ohio. you've been covering the road trip 200012. give me a sense of the senate race there. how are you reading things? >> well, despite what you just heard there, a lot of what the results -- on the presidential contest, the conventional wisdom is that romney needs to win ohio

for mandell to pull out a victory. from my experience talking to people on the road here i think that's the case. but going back to the debate, to say these two men dislike each other is a gross understatement. you could really feel the palpable hate between them. and that's why on the trail yesterday josh mandell was talk about the debate. saying that senator brown was acting like a child and also brown supporters right before the debate were chanting "liar liar" across the street to mandell supporters. very nasty campaign. >> can i ask you about the ohio race in general, the presidential race? the last two months have put the race at an 8-point lead for barack obama. it's been 51-43%. an that did not change. do you sense the ground game there for barack obama and what you're feeling because you're there, do you feel that he has the upper hand? >> yes, in terms of things like the number of campaign offices and staffers on the ground absolutely. you can't drive through one of these small ohio towns like

canton like we did a couple of days ago and see an obama campaign office. they're really just everywhere here. also the early mean, president four years to prepare for this. it wasn't going to be a big surprise that ohio was a battleground state. and that's exactly what they've done. they've prepared for this for many, many years. >> reid, what about the close senate race in virginia there? >> people really do want to see change in washington. and that's where tim kaine and i differ. i want to be virginia's senator. tim wants to be president obama's senator. >> this is a huge difference between the two of us. i do not think it is anti-virginian to support the president of the united states. i do not think it is anti-virginian to support the commander in chief. >> how concerned are democrats about holding on to this senate seat, reid? >> they're really concerned. it's a mix of new virginia with

tim kaine and the outlying suburbs pander washington, d.c. and the strength and the growth that are there and the old virginia that allen, former senator allen, former governor allen, embraces. so it's critical for them to hold on to the seat from a senate standpoint. it's not an absolute must for president obama to get to 270 to hold on to virginia. but harry reid would like to keep this in his column. tim kaine really represents what i consider the new virginia. where it's growth, prosperity, a lot of folks really are more washingtonians than virginians. so you'll see that play out heavily in this election. >> yeah. i'm going to drink a little more coffee, because i've called you reid twice now. you can call me witt. >> claire mccaskill was the first to endorse barack obama and she was his strong right-hand, passing legislation, voting with him 98% of the time.

>> he supports the boss being able to decide whether or not you get paid less just because you're a woman. and if you look at congressman akin's office, in fact, he is the boss that does that. >> susan, senator mccaskill continues to lead in the polls. does todd akin have a chance there in missouri? >> he very well may, which is unfortunate. because as much as i want to see the senate turn republican, i don't think he'd do it at the expense of having someone of his character elected to the senate. so i actually hope that claire mccaskill keeps her seat. >> okay, that's interesting. i want to have you sit tight. >> this is that great american first. every republican should hire this woman. >> moderation is usually the key, i think, in getting things done. but in a moment, we'll rate the week, everyone, the best and the worst. welcome aboard! [ chuckles ]

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and back now for one of my favorite segments with our big three. the best week, worst week. my panel today, susan del percio and morris reid. shirrra, you're first. who's your best and worst this

week? >> the best of the week are ohio early voters. i went to a couple of polling locations this week and the lines are nonexistent and it's really easy to go. the worst of the week are these poor, undecided voters left in ohio who still have to listen to all of these attack ads on television. >> which includes our producer, nick, who's always calling out on the air. he said he's at home, and after one day, i cannot even turn on the tv. it's just saturated. susan? >> the best week goes to the al smith dinner, mostly because it brought some civility back to politics and it was really quite fun. >> it was. >> and the worst week has to go to national polls. until they find a way to really count early voting and balance it, they're really doing a disservice publicity wise to these candidates. >> okay. and morris, usually you're really out there with yours. so where'd you go today? >> well, my buddy andrew cuomo had the best week. the governor of new york, consensus, andrew cuomo will be

president of the united states. my worst week, sensata workers. they're getting their jobs shipped to china. mitt romney owns 8 million shares in this company. i'm sure we'll hear more about this on monday night in his foreign policy experience. >> all right, thank you all so much. that is a wrap-up of "weekends with alex witt," i'll be right back tomorrow at noon eastern. up next, richard lui in for craig melvin. so have a great day and stay tuned to msnbc. with more pain. . triple checking hydraulics. the evening brings more pain. so, back to more pills. almost done, when... hang on. stan's doctor recommended aleve. it can keep pain away all day with fewer pills than tylenol. this is rudy. who switched to aleve. and two pills for a day free of pain. ♪ [ female announcer ] and try aleve for relief from tough headaches.